Our planet is covered in pockmarks so deep that they can be seen from space. Some were caused by asteroid strikes, but most are the result of human meddling. Here are some of the most incredible examples of the scarred Earth.

Mir or Mirny Mine, Yakutia, Russia

This open pit diamond mine was opened in 1957 and closed two years ago. In the 1960s it was producing 10 million carats (2 tons) of diamond per year, but this rate slowed to 2 milion carats (400 kg) per year. It was the first and largest diamond mine in the Soviet Union, now 1720 ft (525 m) deep and 3940 ft (1200 m) in diameter. The airspace above the mine is closed for helicopters because it sucks them with its downward air flow.

Berkeley Pit, Butte, Montana

This former copper mine was opened in 1955 but it was closed in 1982. The water pumps in the nearby Kell shaft are closed, and groundwater began to fill the pit. Now the water is about 900 m (270 m) deep there and acidic (2.5 pH) like Coke and Pepsi. About 2020 the pit water starts to polluting the nearby natural groundwater.

The deepest open-pit mine of the world has been in production since 1906, and now it has a more than 0.6 miles (0.97 km) deep and 2.5 miles (4 km) wide pit. As of 2004, ore from the mine has yielded more than 17 milllion tons of copper, 715 tons (23 million ounces) of gold, 5,900 tons (190 million ouncess) of silver and 386 kt (850 million pounds) of molybdenium.

The current mine plan will expire in 2019, but the owner Rio Tinto Group would extend the life of the mine into the 2030s.

Derweze or Darvaza, the "Door To Hell", Derweze, Turkmenistan

The site in the middle of the Karakum Desert was identified by Soviet geologists in 1971. They set up a drilling rig and started operations, but the ground collapsed into a wide crater and the rig disappeared. Some methane gases were released and that created a real danger for the people in nearby villages. So the scientists decided to burn these gases off. They thought it would take a few days. They were wrong. The gas has been burning since then without any pause. The nearest village, named Derweze, was abandoned on the orders of the Türkmenbaşy, Saparmurat Niyazow, because "it was an unpleasant sight for tourists."

Chuquicamata, outside of Calama, Chile

The world's biggest and second deepest (2,790 ft or 850 m) open pit copper mine was opened in 1882, but the metal was mined there for centuries. The Chilean copper now still accounts for almost one-third of the country's all exports.

This giant scallop shell is made of earth. A crane deposits the earth in successive, slightly curved lines giving the appearance of sheets of sand lined up side by side. This earth is extracted with the copper, but it is separated from the ore by sieving. Photo by Yann Arthus-Bertrand.

Grasberg mine, near Puncak Jaya, Papua, Indonesia

The world's largest gold mine and the third largest copper mine was built at 14,000 ft (4100 m) above sea level in one of West Papua's most remote areas. In 2006 it producted more than 610.8 tons of copper, 58.47 tons of gold and 174.46 tons of silver.

Shoemaker Crater, Western Australia

Lake Bosumtwi, Ghana

The crater is 6.52 miles (10.5 km) in diameter and its depth is about 1246 feet (380 m).

The Ashanti ethnic group respects this as a sacred lake, they believe that the souls of the dead come here to bid farewell to the god Twi. By the way, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan is an Ashanti.